Marches LEP announces raft of new appointments

The Marches LEP has announced the appointment of five new members to its business-led board who bring with them expertise in specific industry and skills areas from the private and not-for-profit sectors. Each will serve for a two year period.
At the same time, it has been announced that Graham Wynn, Chairman of the Marches LEP, has been re-appointed to his role and will be supported by existing board members Mandy Thorn and Paul Hinkins who jointly assume the role of Deputy Chair.

The Marches LEP announced in June that as it moved to a mature phase of development focused on the delivery of a full programme of work, it would require additional skills from a wider pool of experience. Specifically, it was keen to recruit those with a background in any of 16-18 years skills development; adult workforce skills development; and those from large private sector employers in the industry or commerce field, the advanced manufacturing sector, the voluntary or community sector, the housing sector, finance or professional services.

Peter Brown, Chief Executive of Herefordshire Housing Group, is one of those to join the board this September and with his experience, which spans over 40 years, will lead on housing related matters for the LEP. Duncan Varnes, meanwhile, has a career with global technology and manufacturing giant GKN. He has particular expertise in the aerospace and automotive sectors and so will bring to the LEP an in depth appreciation of the skills issues faced by these manufacturing sectors.
Sonia Roberts joins the board with a background in the voluntary and charitable sectors and currently holds roles with Landau and Shropshire Providers Consortium. Also joining the board is Christian Dangerfield who has a wealth of experience working in the global financial markets, especially in the Far East, and now manages a portfolio career from his farm in Herefordshire.
Finally, Steve Wain Principal at Shrewsbury College joins the board to ensure that the needs of young people entering the workplace in the region are appropriately represented.
Speaking on the announcement of the enlarged board, Graham Wynn Chairman of the Marches LEP said: “Earlier this year it was agreed that as we move forward in the LEP’s evolution it would be necessary to strengthen our skills with a board that delivers broader industry and skills representation. We were keen to attract candidates with commercial acumen, a good understanding of public and private partnership working and the ability to understand and tackle complex issues across the public, private, voluntary and community sectors. I very much believe that in Peter, Duncan, Sonia, Christian and Steve we’ve achieved that.
“I am also delighted to be supported by Mandy and Paul in the joint role of Deputy Chair and look forward to the local business insight that they’ll bring to the board in their roles of the Business Boards for Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin respectively.”